//------------------------------//
// Ch.18 Brotherly Bonding 
// Story: The Crystal War Book I: A Spark to Light the Dark 
// by NatureSpark 
//------------------------------//


~Chapter 18: Brotherly Bonding~


Celestia’s bright sun had just begun to rise as Downpour opened his tired eyes that morning. The pegasus laid there, motionless on the bed for a couple of minutes, allowing his blue eyes to acclimate to the lack of light in the room. With a weary groan, he forced himself out of the warm blankets and planted his hooves firmly on the floor. The brothers had miles of travel looming before them and the sooner they got a jump on it, the sooner that they could return home. Home; the word alone made Downpour long for Dodge. Would he ever see it again? Would Strata return there with him? He should have talked to her about that before they split the group apart, but the stallion had been far too busy soaking up his marefriend’s love and affection to bother asking. Well, no time to spend worrying about that now, he thought, I need to get my bags packed and wake Draft up so we can leave.
Downpour began rummaging through his saddle bags, taking inventory of the supplies that he had brought with him. Aside from the food he had packed, there were also two of Spark’s healing elixirs, a nearly empty pouch of herbs to smoke,  a few rolling papers, a heavy cloak, some warm boots, a bag of bits, his flint stone and an assortment of other drugs that his unicorn friend had given him. There appeared to be two vials of crystalline powder, some dried mushrooms and a small vial of adrenaline. What he would possibly need the drugs for, Downpour couldn’t imagine, but Spark had wanted him to take them, so he decided to humor the eccentric botanist.
After stuffing the supplies back into his bags, Downpour decided it was time to wake his brother up, but wondered what the best method of doing so would be. He could always go the nice route and gently nudge his brother awake, but that wasn’t really his style. A slight smirk graced the pegasus’s chiseled features as he came up with a better idea. He carefully snuck over to the side of his brother’s bedding and took a firm hold on the blankets. Downpour had to keep himself from waking the younger pegasus with his chuckling before he was ready to enact his plan. 
“Wake up Draft! There’s a fire!” he yelled in his younger brother’s ear as he wrenched the blankets out from under the taller stallion’s sleeping body.
“Whoa!” Draft cried as he shot out of bed and smashed his shin against the desk with a loud bang! Then he fell to the ground in confusion. “What the buck?” Downpour dropped to the floor near his brother, clutching his sides as laughter overtook him. “What the hay is your problem?” Draft got to his hooves and kicked his brother’s chest in anger when he saw him laughing.
“Oh come on, even you have to admit that was a pretty good one,” Downpour chortled. His brother stared straight into his eyes with an unencumbered rage.
“In what possible way was that a good one!?” Draft screamed the question at him so suddenly that it caused the older stallion to jolt upright. “You are the biggest ass in Equestria. You’re rude, condescending and selfish! You’re driving me insane with your stupidity!” The outburst was completely unexpected. Downpour hadn’t seen his brother so angry in a very long time, not since their mother had died. Had he taken things to far? It seemed like a harmless little joke at the time, but Draft’s reaction told him otherwise.
“I was just messing with you,” Downpour replied as he stood up. “Celestia, there’s no need to get all pissed off about it.” His brother turned around and picked up his bags before storming out of the room, leaving Downpour staring after him in befuddlement. What the hay just happened? The stocky pegasus sat down on the bed and reassessed the events that had just taken place. This time he may have pushed his brother over the edge, he thought, as he fell back onto the blankets. “Damn.”

Draft took off, stomping down the stairs as he fumed, and came face to face with Silver Blood and Chestnut. He wasn’t in the mood to hear what they were going to say about what had just happened. Of course they had heard the whole exchange, the pegasus groaned silently in embarrassment.
“Good morning, Silver. Good morning, Chestnut. How’s it going?” Draft asked, feigning nonchalance.
“I feel that I should be asking you that very same question. How are you and your brother this morning?” the duke asked him, with a slight raise of his bushy eyebrows.
“We’ve been better,” Draft admitted.
“I am sorry to hear that, Draft,” the duke replied.
“Don’t be, it’s not your fault,” he sighed. The grey pegasus took a seat at the dining table after that. There was a little breakfast already waiting for the brothers, so Draft threw some food on his plate and began eating it, without giving much thought to the taste. It was time to get the journey started, that way they could be finished already and he could go home. Maybe he could move to Los Pegasus when this was all over, the pegasus considered. They hadn’t even left for the north yet and Draft was already sick of being around his brother.
“Are you two going to be leaving soon?” Chestnut asked. The old mule sat in the dining chair next to Draft’s and began to pour himself a glass of orange juice. Silver decided to take another one of the open seats around the table and three of them got started on breakfast while they waited for Downpour to come down the stairs.
“Yeah, I’m sure that we’ll be taking off anytime now, after my brother stuffs his face of course,” the pegasus replied. Now that he had a few minutes to cool off, Draft was feeling like he may have overreacted a bit. He would have to apologize for responding so badly when he got the chance. In the meantime, he was just happy to have a nice meal and be fully rested. 
“Speak of the Draconequus, look who’s here,” the mule commented. Downpour shot Chestnut an unamused smile before sitting down and loading some food onto his own empty plate.
“Did you get enough sleep last night, Downpour?” Silver asked him. Draft’s brother nodded his agreement and finished swallowing his ridiculously large mouthful of food before opening his mouth to speak.
“Um, yeah, I slept really well, actually,” the hungry pegasus answered. “I think I’ve got plenty of energy to make my way to the Crystal Kingdom.” As soon as he had said his piece, Downpour resumed gorging himself on the meal before him.
“That’s wonderful to hear,” Chestnut said as he glanced back and forth between the two brothers, but they themselves had yet to make eye contact. “I finished with a rough survival guide for the two of you. It has a rough map of the territories you’ll be traversing, as well as what strains of plants are edible and a few other bits and pieces of information I thought might be useful to you.”
“Thanks,” the brothers replied in union. Everypony began to eat in an awkward silence after that, until the duke finally got irritated enough to break the silence.
“Alright, that is quite enough of that,” Silver stated as he wiped his mouth off on a napkin and then stood up from the table. “Ahem, I must say that the behavior that you two have been exhibiting this morning is not at all conducive to your goals. Both of you are acting like foals and I will not stand for it.” The brothers’ eyes widened at the duke’s sudden outburst. Silver Blood didn’t even need to raise his voice to get his point across; the confidence in his tone and direct way he spoke to them was more than enough to convey his point clearly. The pegasus knew the reason why he was such a respected member of the government now. “Now, I believe it would be in everypony’s best interests for you stallions to begin acting in a more mature fashion. You are family and should deal with personal situations accordingly.”
Draft attempted to argue, “uh, but I, er, that is… ugh, you’re right.” The unicorn made a valid point. What kind of stallions go around bickering with each other while they are completing a mission for the princesses? It was completely ridiculous. “Downpour, I’m sorry about freaking out on you. I went a little over the top, but I know you really didn’t mean anything by it. That’s just the way you are.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too, I guess,” Downpour mumbled in reply. “I shouldn’t have messed with you while you were sleeping.” The brothers shook hooves and settled their differences, for a while anyway. “Well, we should probably get going soon.
“The sooner we leave the sooner we get there I suppose,” Draft agreed as he picked up his bag and tossed it over his back, while his brother did the same.
Silver floated a pipe over to himself with his magic, lighting it with a blue spark as he said, “that’s the spirit.” The four friends got up from the table and began somberly making their way outside. “Remember you two; there is an entire country depending on you now. If you do not succeed then war may be inevitable.” 
“I guess that this is the last time we’ll be seeing you for awhile, isn’t it?” Draft questioned. The grey pegasus gave Chestnut a hug as he asked. The old mule simply nodded his head in reply. They wouldn’t make it to the capitol for a week and if there was any trouble, it would take them even longer than that. “Well, thanks for everything you both have done for us.”
“And don’t worry about a thing,” Downpour added. “We’ll have this situation sorted out and be back in time for Hearth’s Warming Eve.” A cocky smile was once again creeping across Downpour’s face and Draft knew that his brother was back to his usual self again. The younger stallion was still a little ticked off though.
“I sincerely hope so,” Silver said, puffing on his pipe the entire time. “And do take care of yourselves. You never know just what trials life will set before you, but together I am quite certain that the two of you will triumph.”
“Well, until next time,” Downpour nodded before kicking off of the ground and proceeding to rise up into the early morning sky. Draft took one last look at Silver and Chestnut, painting a mental picture of the two to commit to his memory before following his brother into the air. One never knew whether the last time they saw a friend would be the last time they would ever see them, after all.
“And remember, we don’t know who is behind this yet, so don’t place too much trust in anypony that you meet,” the mule called up to them. Draft nodded his agreement to Chestnut’s warning before turning around and catching up to his older brother. As eager as he had been to leave and get this task finished, there was still a part of Draft that felt as if he should stay. Some unconscious prediction in his instinct that was trying to tell him disaster was on its way, but he did his best to shake off the feeling of worry. His friends could take care of themselves and he had bigger problems.

The steady beat of wings and the rush of the wind across his body were the only sounds that Downpour could hear while he flew. It was a peaceful tempo, the sound of his wings flapping in time with his brother’s. The peace of flying through the air on a cool day was a calm that went unmatched in the pegasus’s eyes. His mind was blank and his spirit felt free as he soared through the clouds.
Fwoosh! Breath in. Fwoosh! Breath out. Let go of all my frustrations. Fwoosh! Breath in. Fwoosh! Breath out. Release all my fears. Fwoosh! Breath in. Fwoosh! Breath out. The tempo was all Downpour thought of, his body perfectly in tune with the universe around him. Profound thoughts weren’t generally the brash stallion’s forte and his impulses were a problem for him, but the simple motions of flying worked miracles on maintaining inner tranquility.
The morning had been just a small rough patch in what had otherwise been a perfectly enjoyable day so far. Aside from the monotony of constant traveling, with only the shortest stops needed to catch their breath, the only problem Downpour faced had been the fact that Draft chose to remain silent most of the trip. A couple times he had tried to engage his little brother in conversation, but after failing to get more than one or two words out of the younger pegasus, he gave up. He had thought that his brother had gotten over the prank, but something was obviously still weighing heavy on his mind. Eventually, even the natural tune of flying became a white noise to the bluish-grey pegasus however and the repetitiveness began to grate on his nerves.
“Seriously, how long are you going to keep up the silent treatment?” Downpour asked. “All of this quite is starting to drive me crazy.” Draft remained impassive and that was all it took to throw Downpour’s state of calm into disarray. “Fine, you want to keep acting like an immature little foal, be my guest.” The younger pegasus stopped midflight and whirled around to face him.
“You know what? I don’t want to hear it coming from you,” Draft heatedly replied. The younger stallion stuck a forehoof in his brother’s face and started yelling, his voice growing louder with each emotional word he spat. “You’re an inconsiderate jerk. All that you care about is yourself and buck anyone else and their feelings.” This was about how Downpour expected his brother to act, because he always stewed on his emotions and then blew up, venting everything all at once. After years of living with Draft, he was accustomed to it.
“What the hay is that supposed to mean?” Downpour questioned. Just because he dealt with it frequently didn’t mean Draft’s outbursts had stopped bothering him. Just having somepony directing anger towards him was enough to rile Downpour up.
“Like you don’t know you dense piece of crap!” Draft screamed.
“I have no idea, so why don’t you just spell it out for me if I’m so dense?” Downpour shouted back.
“If you weren’t such a raging prick all of the time, maybe mom wouldn’t have killed herself!” Draft retorted. Tears of anger were beginning to spill out of the younger stallion’s eyes as he screamed out his accusation. That was all Downpour needed to hear before his emotional tranquility was completely shattered. He swung his sizeable hoof out and slammed it squarely into his younger brother’s jaw. The scrawnier pegasus went rolling backwards through the air a few times before he righted himself and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“What the buck is your problem!?” Downpour asked him.
“You!” Draft screamed at him as he charged head on. His head connected with Downpour’s stomach, knocking the wind from the shorter stallion’s lungs and sending jolts of pain through his body. “You are my bucking problem!” Downpour was prepared for the punch that came and his wings pushed him safely out of his younger brother’s formidable reach. A swift kick to the kidney was enough to stop Draft’s second strike and cause him to drop from the air for a few yards. Downpour dropped into a dive, intending to end the fight by slamming into the furious pegasus with all his weight, but his brother was very nimble and managed to rotate himself around backwards. The stockier pegasus had too much momentum to change his course and felt the unyielding force of a buck straight to the chest.
“Aughh!” Downpour bellowed. The air left his lungs again and the force of Draft’s kick sent him flying up in the air a good distance before he started spiraling down to the ground. He ineffectually flapped his wings a few times trying to keep aloft and the whole time his lungs were on fire from the lack of oxygen. That hurt quite a bit, he thought as he gasped for air. Downpour finally managed to take a grasping breath and pumped his wings enough to halt his descent, but his chest was throbbing in pain from the blow. “Celestia damn it! I am going to kick your sorry flank for that one.” His wings strained with the effort of flying back up to his younger brother and when he got within talking distance, Draft bolted further away. Obviously he knows what’s coming if I get my hooves on him, Downpour thought, so I’ll just have to bide my time and get payback later.
“Are you done?” Draft called out to his brother, who answered with the most sincere smile he could muster under the circumstances. 
“Yeah, I’m done,” Downpour lied. “You got me good, you bucker.” As soon as he had finished speaking, the older stallion broke down into a fit of coughing and was pretty sure that he tasted a little blood. Draft must have been really pissed; because that was the first time he had ever gotten the best of him. After catching his breath, the wounded pegasus found a cloud to sit on and decided to take an early lunch break.
Draft glided down to the cloud slowly as he said, “Good, besides I didn’t mean t-” A quick jab to the side of his Draft’s head cut him off and was all that Downpour needed to feel like they were even again. The taller pegasus dropped to the large cloud with a muffled thump. Even though pegasus could walk on clouds it was really more like stepping on mattresses than solid earth. A short fall would be fairly cushioned, but if you fell from a high enough distance, it was still going to cause some serious damage.
Downpour began to dig something to eat out of his saddle bags, glancing over at his brother, who was still laying face down on the cloud, every few seconds. After about five minutes of him not moving, Downpour figured he should check on his younger brother.
“Hey, its time to eat, so get up, you faker,” Downpour told him. His younger brother didn’t move a single muscle. “Hey, are you alright,” he said as he poked Draft in the ribs a few times in an attempt to wake him. “Damn, I guess I hit you a little harder than I thought.” He rolled his brother over and checked his breathing. Downpour could see the rising and falling of the younger pegasus’s chest and realized he must have just knocked Draft out cold. “He isn’t going to be happy when he wakes up,” Downpour muttered to himself as he took a large bite from a peach he had grabbed. Waiting around for Draft to wake up seemed to be the only option, so he figured he might as well slate his hunger while he did so.

Draft opened his eyes and waited for the fuzziness to leave his vision before he even attempted to sit upright.  After a couple deep breaths he felt a bit better and got to his unsteady hooves. The world spun around the pegasus as his head swam with dizziness. He spilled his guts over the edge of the cloud he was on and then sat back down. His face was sore and his brain was throbbing.
Draft’s head felt heavy and it sank down into his hooves as he mumbled, “You’re an ass,” to his older brother.
“So you’ve told me, but I’m not the one who accused my brother of being responsible for mom’s suicide,” Downpour replied before finishing off his peach and releasing a long burp. “That was something an ass would have said.”
“I was just pissed. I didn’t really mean it,” Draft apologized.
“Don’t lie to me,” Downpour replied. “I know you meant every word of it.” The older pegasus fixed him with a look of anger and regret. “You think I don’t feel the same way? You think I don’t blame myself every damn day for how badly I treated her growing up?” That was the last thing that Draft had expected his brother to say. “Dad left when I was four, I can’t even remember what he looked like anymore. I don’t know what color his mane was or if he liked apples or oranges more. I know nothing about him and I know you don’t either.” Downpour’s eyes grew watery as he spoke to his brother, the feelings that he tried to ignore for the past five years finally shattering the surface of his uncaring illusion.
“You’re right,” Draft admitted. “I don’t remember a thing about the old stallion, but I don’t see what that has to do-” 
“Because I blamed mom for dad leaving,” Downpour explained. “I hated her for it and thought that maybe, just maybe, if she had been better, he wouldn’t have left us.”
“That’s stupid though. Dad left because he wanted to and nothing any of us could have done would have changed that,” Draft replied. He couldn’t believe that his older brother would even begin to think like that. It was nopony’s fault but their father’s.
“I know it’s stupid,” Downpour choked quietly. “I know that now, but growing up I couldn’t help feeling that way and I took it out on mom.” Draft opened his mouth, but the words wouldn’t form, so he resigned himself to remaining silent until his brother was finished. “At first I made her life miserable out of hate, but soon it became like second nature to me and I didn’t know how else to treat her.” The tears finally spilled down his cheeks, but Downpour still fought against them. “I know that’s just a lame excuse. The truth is that I hold all the blame, you were right.”
“Wow, way to take the thunder out of my first win,” Draft mumbled. The pegasus’s comment caused his older brother to crack a smile, even through the tears.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” Downpour replied. A few deep breaths seemed to help the blue eyed pegasus stave off his crying temporarily. “Sorry about the cheap shot too. I just couldn’t let you win.” Draft smiled back at him.
“Do you want to toss me one of those peaches?” the younger stallion asked him.
“Yeah, no problem,” Downpour said as he threw his brother a peach. Draft took a bite of the juicy fruit and savored the sweet nectar. The two of them sat on the cloud and rested for awhile, glad to have gotten the bad blood out of their systems. Sometimes brothers just needed to fight it all out to make things better.

Now that his brother was talking to him again, Downpour didn’t mind the long flight much. He was actually feeling pretty good after their exchange that afternoon. The rest of the day had been pretty calm and they laughed and joked most of the time. For the first time in a long time, they were talking about their parents without getting angry or depressed and it felt really good to him. He still had a reputation to maintain though, so he wouldn’t be crying again for a very long time.
“I wonder how Inferno and the others are doing,” Draft said as they rode an air current. “Do you think that Spark is holding up alright without his sight? I can’t imagine that being easy for him.” His older brother stared back at him with a look of concern as they flew. 
“I’m sure that they’re doing fine, Draft. Strata knows where they’re going and she can take care of herself pretty well. Hay, they all can hold their own in a fight,” Downpour assured him.
“I guess you’re right, there probably isn’t anything to be worried about,” Draft admitted.
“That’s right,” Downpour replied. “After they take care of their business overseas they’ll head our way and by that time we should have everything taken care of up north.” Downpour thought for a second and added, “more or less anyway.”
“Yeah, I guess I should be focusing on our problems. We have plenty of distance left between here and the Crystal Kingdom,” Draft acknowledged. As soon as he finished speaking the younger pegasus’s face took on a look of surprise. “Shit!” Downpour spun himself around just in time to catch sight of a spear as it whizzed past his waist, nicking him in the barrel and drawing blood, before shooting to the ground.
“The buck was-” Downpour didn’t even need to finish his question, because swarming down on them from above the highest clouds, was a group of griffons. Their intentions seemed to be aggressive too. Downpour instantly regretted fighting with his brother, as the energy they had wasted would have come in handy right about then. These griffons were part of the Red Eyes and they looked mean.
“What should we do?” Draft asked.
“I don’t think we have much choice,” his brother replied. The mercenaries were jetting towards them at full speed, cries of battle filling the air around them. “It looks like we’re in for a fight!” Downpour yelled at his younger brother, before charging head on into the fray. A split second barrel roll saved him from being speared before he had the chance to get a hit in, but the stocky stallion managed to close the distance on the front of the group. He smashed a hoof with all of the power he could muster into the first hybrid creature’s shoulder. The bones shattered on impact and the spear dropped uselessly from its limp claws.
Downpour didn’t hesitate to follow up with a headbutt to the griffon he was grappling with and it struck right between the eyes, knocking his aggressor into a daze. A swift blow to the side of the head sent the griffon falling to his death.
“Hurry up and kill these pathetic ponies, we have a contract to uphold!” the largest of the griffons shouted down to the others. That was who Downpour needed to take out, he realized, but the leader’s little minions seemed intent on getting in his way. That was their second mistake.
There was movement in the corner of Downpour’s eye and he dropped below the first stab of a griffon’s spear. The mercenary immediately swung it down and the sharpened metal edge bit into the pegasus’s shoulder.
“Gahh!” he howled. Where in the hoof was his brother at? There was time to think about that right then. The pegasus gripped the spear in his teeth and yanked it out of the griffon’s talons. A deft maneuver had the spear pointing at the creature’s underbelly and a hard thrust plunged it into the vital area. Blood ran out of the wound splattering Downpour with crimson, but he was already focused on his next target.

“Just bucking latch already!” Draft yelled at the metal clasp that he was having trouble with, before he finally got it to lock in place. The pegasus hadn’t expected a fight while they were still in Equestrian airspace, but Chestnut had been right about the rogue griffon groups flying nearby it seemed. The moment he saw the spear flying past his brother, Draft had started pulling out his wing blades. The fact that he never had much time to practice with them made it hard to put them on alone, but the advantage they would give him in battle was well worth the extra time.
Draft heard his older brother cry out as another griffon stabbed at him with a long spear. Then he saw Downpour’s counter and watched the griffon fall to his own weapon. That’s my brother, he thought, as he prepared himself to enter the fight. The sharpened blades added a few extra inches to his wingspan along with some extra weight, but the pegasus was still quicker than most fliers as he shot towards an unsuspecting griffon. The eagle-lion cried out in pain as Draft’s wing tip carved a bloody path across its unguarded back. A few of the other griffons whipped their heads around to see what had happened and two of them charged for Draft upon making eye contact. The skinny pegasus turned his body to face them and began beating his wings, as fast as he could manage with the cumbersome weapons attached.
Draft’s heart thrummed as he worked his muscles to their limits, trying to gain as much speed as possible in the short distance he was flying. Two spears lanced out at him and he forced his nimble body into a spin. For a split second, time seemed to slow as he watched the metal tips passing within inches of his face. Then the sound of slicing meat filled the pegasus’s ears as his own weapons managed to strike their targets. His two enemies barely had time to let out cries of anguish before they dropped from the sky, a trail of blood following them to their dual graves on the ground below.
A stabbing pain shot through Draft’s leg the moment one of the mercenary beasts pierced him with a knife. He felt the cold blade slice through his hock and then the warm blood that ran out of the wound.
“Aughhh!” That hurt like nothing else Draft had ever experienced. He moved just in time to avoid a second stab that was directed for his back and a buck to the throat stopped the griffon’s attempts to kill him. The hybrid mercenary couldn’t even let out a scream from his crushed throat as he fell from the sky. This one happened to land on a cloud where. Draft saw him begin choking to death before the pegasus took off for his next opponent.
There was movement all around Draft as he dipped and dodged around spears and other just as dangerous instruments of death. Instead of taking on griffons one at a time, the agile stallion settled for dashing past whoever was closest and letting his wings slowly cut through their stamina. He could hear the sounds of hoofs breaking bone as his brother worked his way through the griffon ranks, finishing off what Draft started.
“Enough!” The powerful command came from the largest of the griffons and once they heard it, all of the other mercenaries retreated to his side. Downpour flew over to Draft and they hovered in the air next to each other while they waited to see what was going to happen next.
“So are you done here or do my brother and I have to take every last one of you out?” Downpour asked them. The older brother’s cocky question didn’t seem to phase the head of the griffon group in the slightest though.
“We have more important matters to attend to, so leave these two be for now. I’ll hunt them down eventually,” the leader said in a cold voice.
“Oh, I’ll be waiting, you half and half little shit,” Downpour retorted. He looked pissed, but Draft was actually thankful that they hadn’t had to keep fighting. He was exhausted and there were still a half dozen of the griffons, not to mention the big one. The leader of the mercs just glared at the black maned pegasus that had spoken, before turning and flying southeast, into Equestria’s heart.
“Should we go after them?” Draft questioned. “You and I both know that they’re up to something.” He glanced over to see his older brother’s shaking head.
“No, Equestria can fight off that little band of losers,” Downpour replied. “We have more important matters to attend to.”
“Yeah, good point,” Draft said as the they flew north, keeping a sharp eye out for somewhere to rest for the night.

Downpour was puffing on a joint like a madmare and smoke billowed around his face as he let out great clouds of the strong scented fumes.
“Okay, okay, on three I want you to pull it out,” Downpour coughed. He tried to relax the muscles in his haunches as he gave his brother the directions. “One. Two- ow!” The spear tip that had broken off in his flank was out now, but it had hurt like hay to remove the metal shard. “You pulled on two, you ass!” The younger pegasus had seen the metal poking out of his brother’s skin when they had landed to set up their camp for the night. Downpour hadn’t even noticed the spear tip was lodged in there until Draft poked at it with his hoof. If they had left it in, it would have gone septic for sure, but that didn’t make removing it any more enjoyable.
“You would have tensed up if I actually pulled on three,” Draft stated flatly.
“Just take this joint and pass me that healing potion,” Downpour replied. He exchanged items with his brother and took a swig off of the bottle of green fluid, draining half of it in one large swallow. The effects took hold fairly quick and he could feel the elixir beginning to mend his wounds. “Drink the other half of this, Draft.”
“Sure,” Draft replied as he took the bottle back and let out a small trail of smoke from his nostrils, “We only have one left after this though.” The younger stallion finished off the elixir and tossed the empty bottle back in his saddle bag. “Oh, that’s so much better.” A smile crept across Draft’s face as he sprawled out on his blanket and let the potion work its magic.
“Yeah, thank Celestia that Spark sent us off with a couple of those babies,” Downpour agreed.
“Mhmm, those injuries would have probably gotten infected if we tried letting them heal on their own,” Draft said. “What do you think those griffons were up to anyway?” His brother let out a relieved sigh as the last of his stab wounds closed up.
“I have no idea, but it couldn’t have been anything good,” Downpour replied. “I just wish we had some way to alert the princesses, but maybe Chestnut will let her know that he saw Griffons sneaking around.” I just hope that the old mule wasn’t their target in the first place, he thought, as he rolled onto his side to face his younger brother.
“Yeah, I’m sure him and Silver are already on it,” Draft sighed. Silence settled in between them and Downpour nearly nodded off until his brother spoke up again. “Look, about earlier. I just want to apologize again for what I said. I had no right to throw accusations at you like that.” Downpour groaned. Why couldn’t Draft just drop the subject already? It wasn’t something that he needed to keep bringing up.
“Its fine, little brother, the past is the past,” Downpour yawned. “Now, can I get some sleep?”
“Sure, sleep sounds like a good idea right now,” Draft replied. The two pegasus rolled over and closed their eyes after that exchange. It didn’t take Downpour more than a couple minutes to nod off again. During the night he woke up once, to wrap his blanket around himself tightly. It was getting colder already and it made sleeping outside sort of uncomfortable, but nothing the brash pegasus couldn’t live with.